Employment in the wireless carrier sector ticked up by 1,400 jobs in December, according to the most recent U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics, but average weekly earnings for wireless carrier employees dropped by $1.10 to $854.83 in December. About 4,300 jobs were lost in the wireline carrier sector, according to preliminary figures.
Overall, the nation’s unemployment rate fell slightly, from 10% unemployment in December to 9.7% unemployment in January. (Drilling down to employment by wireless and wireline carrier statistics lag a month behind statistics for the overall telecom sector.) In the telecom space, the unemployment rate stands at about 8.8%, with about 3,100 jobs lost from December to January. The unemployment rate in telecom for at the end of the year was about 8.3%. Telecom sector employment accounted for about 954,500 jobs in January, with about 619,000 people employed on the wired side and just under 200,000 employed in wireless. Of that figure, telecommunications equipment installers and repairers (excluding line installers) accounted for 134,040 jobs, while another 98,210 people were employed as line installers and repairers. More than 131,000 people were employed as customer service representatives for telecom companies. The number of hours worked was stable at 36.5 hours per week.
By state, California continued to employ the most people in the wireless carrier sector, counting 31,800 jobs, which was flat month-to-month. Employment in Washington state was also stable, at 12,800 jobs, and in Georgia, at 12,700 jobs. New Jersey, New York and Texas do not break out employment by wireless and wireline categories.
In related industry sectors, employment in the computer and electronic products category was down about 3,600 jobs to employ nearly 1.1 million people in January. Drilling down further into that sector, about 1,300 jobs were lost in the semiconductor and components category, which counts about 358,200 positions. Communications equipment employment lost another 1,000 jobs, with 118,200 positions filled in January.
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